


Isolation

by Plume8now



Series: Tumblr Prompts [12]
Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Angst, Captivity, Emotional Hurt, Existential Crisis, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Impel Down, Kairouseki | Seastone, Pain, Past Character Death, Portgas D. Ace-centric, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:01:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29889093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Plume8now/pseuds/Plume8now
Summary: It’s a funny feeling, sitting here.Without the seastone, he wouldn’t feel cold.Without the seastone, he wouldn’t be plunged into darkness.Without the seastone, he wouldn’t be chained to a potential, certain death.[Inspired by the prompt: "isolation"]
Relationships: Dadan & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Garp & Portgas D. Ace, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Whitebeard Pirates
Series: Tumblr Prompts [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1415272
Comments: 8
Kudos: 14





	Isolation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [huliganships](https://archiveofourown.org/users/huliganships/gifts).



> I feel less and less comfortable writing, but I tried again anyway, and here it goes. I always feel so much about Ace ahah  
> This was written for my friend Huligan, who wrote already so many good things for me before.  
> I'd also like to thank Rem, aka InfiniteInMisery for beta-ing this prompt even though they are not into this fandom!

It is a funny feeling, sitting here.

Except for his own presence, the place is wide empty. The ground and walls would be entirely naked if it hadn’t been decorated with locks and chains here and there, leaving him with seastone cuffs adorning his wrists and ankles. Dadan’s necklace hangs around his neck in a sad tone of red, and without his hat, half of the pearls that remind him of his foster mother are missing. His skin is dirty, his clothes soiled, his hair greasy. He can feel the coldness of the stones against his back, against his arms, when he lies on the wall, and against his legs and bare feet. The room is filled with monochromic shades of grey and blue, and the pirate can’t help but miss the brighter colours of his youth. When he closes his eyes, he can picture more vividly the Fuchsia village and its inhabitants. 

Then, once in a while, his mind wanders to the fond memory of his brothers, and a bittersweet taste of sorrow springs in his heart in the sound of their laughter. He gets all the time in the world to lose himself in nostalgia of the Spade Pirates’ camaraderie before finding his new father and his family, until... The White Beard commander bites his lower lip, and his body shivers to the thought of his nakama’s death. His chest burns up in ache as he remembers Marco’s screams, warning, begging him not to leave, at least, not  _ alone _ .

But he’d lost a brother before. He had only been left with a grave to cry upon, back then. He was young and weak, and Celestial Dragons are unreachable.

But Teach is a pirate. And pirates aren’t untouchable… 

He’d know.

Sometimes, he looks up to the ceiling, as if his eyes would magically pierce through the stones, to at last, find the sky and its clouds – the sky and its sun. Sometimes, he can hear the echo of his ties as his sore body jolts in pain, protesting against the stillness of his position. Sometimes, he wants to call out to his family and ask, just like he asked Garp, ‘Was it good that I was born?’ 

_ Was there any point to my existence? Did it ever matter? Will it ever matter? _

At least, when all of this is over, he tells himself as a mere consolation, he would get to see Sabo again, and yell at him, ironically just like his crewmates did with him, for running away on his own.

It’s a funny feeling, sitting here. If that could even be called ‘sitting’.

The bars before him, standing strong and fierce, cut his sight of what is left for him to see from this place in multiple squares. Without them, the picture would have been complete. And without the seastone, he wouldn’t feel cold. Without the seastone, he wouldn’t be plunged into darkness. Without the seastone, he wouldn’t be chained to a potential, certain death.

Ah, it really is a funny thing, sitting here. 

He is, Ace thinks in a smile, entirely part of the landscape. As if this had always been, and will always be, the only rightful place of the Pirate King’s son.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again! Don't hesitate and leave a comment :D  
> Feel free to scream, it helps


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